MR. MAXWELL MILLER. TO THE EDITOR OP THE MERCURY. SIR,-I porceivo that tho lion, member for Hobart Town (Mr. Miller) has fully recovered from bis recent indisposition and resumed his placo in tho nouso. Ho has already begun to exhibit his wonted activity and re^MosBnpss, mid is putting his finger in overy pie,' His mission' seems a comprehensivo ono, ranging from an inquiry into the clerical orders of Mr. Crookes and tho improve- ment of Suporior Schools, upwards and downwards to the highest and lowest matters of legislativo business. Sir, I cannot help thinking that it is high tjmo some situation were found for this gentle- man, in whloh ho would have a greater, because a moro constant, opportunity of distinguishing him- self than his prosont position hi Parliament affords him. I am often 'distressed to think what Mr. Miller does witli himself, or what congenial l'o sourpes Jip pan fljid to pxpon.l lils pnerglcs upon, during tkoiBO long dreary mouths.whou tho salvation of tho count...

COMMEBCIAL. ?o HOBART TOWN MARKETS. Mercury Ojjîce, Wednesday Afternoon. In tho wheat market so littlo is doing that business seems icbnost entirely suspended. The W. B. Denn from Launceston caine in last night, bringing 3220 bushels wheal, which had been bought previous to shipment. Oats uieot with no iuquiry, and barley continues very scarce. Hay is stationary at previous rales, looso at £G to ¿C7 per ton, according lo quality, and country pressed at ¿¡5 10s. to ¿20 10s. There is no chango in potatoes, and very little is doing. ', The flour market is quiet, and to-day prices aro quoted at .£21 to J322 pea* ton according to quantity for flour from the best colonial wheat. Bran, Is. Gd. to Is. 9d. per bushel.

THE FREE CHURCH AND STATE AID. TO THE EDITOB OP THE MtBCUBY. Sin,-I have just read your article, in your journal of the 18th hist., on the State Aid question. It appears that the Church of Scotland received at tho rate ol' 8s. 8d. per head per annum from the Treasury. Yet wo oro " not all Stato paupers," for there aro two Churches in Hobart Town, ouo in Launceston,and another at Oatlands whoso con- gi egations ignoro Stato Aid or State interference of any kind whatever. Let the Parliament, and the différent religious denominations in our colony, enquire into the constitution and principles of our Free Church, and let other denominations " go and do likewise," for I believe they are all as ablo to support their own Churches and schools as wo aro ; tho Church of England, I think more so. I tako this to bo the truo solution of the Stato Aid question. "Religion if worth anything is worth paying for," and it is an old saying and a true one " To relievo people of their duties is to rob th...

PRINCE ALBERTS BIRTHDAY. MONDAY next will be the anniversary of Prince AiiBEire's Birthday, and we would toke the liberty of suggesting to the government the propriety of declaring it a General Holiday, or at ieasî of closing the public offices at 1 o'clock. This would give our Vojuutoors an opportunity of turuing out in honor of tho day, and would enablo many to join in the march who are denied the chanco of 80 doing on a Saturday. It is 'necessary that the Volunteer» should be drilled in marching, and from the nature of the employ- ment of many of them this cannot be done save by taking advantage of a holiday of this kind. We respectfully suggest to Ministers, therefore, especially as Parliament does not sit on a Monday, whether it would not be judicious to lend this small amount of encouragement to the Volunteers. We know that such a concession I would be adequately appreciated.

TAYLORS BAY STONE. TO TUE EDITOB OP THE MEBCUBY. SIB-Peí ceivmg in youl paper of this morning some statements of Mr Balfe s made m the House of Assembly last night, which oie entuely at variance with the facts, I think it necessary to trouble you with a few reniaiks m oidei to con- tradict wie same Upwaids of two yeais ago, and after spending abo\ o £lo00 m opening a quaay at the Huon, I visited Point Ventenot, and pei ceivmg the excellent quality of the stone, I íesolved to pin chase the land theie, but becouung engaged m tho election of the New Whaif, I defenecí doing so untd its completion I had actually eighteen months ago er gaged quaiaymeii to go to get stone theie foi the new Public Buildings m Macquaiie sticet I caused a tiacmg of Point Ventenet to bo made with the object of selectuig the quany theie, days befoio I had oven hoard of Mi Glaistei, and I distinctly deny encountoiing any dray with stono, and then starting to town, (out of which I havo not beeu foi upwaids of 8 m...

THE MERCURY. THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 23UD, 1SG0. » -«. IN tho Legislativo Council yesterday, Mr. "WEDGE, on behalf of Mr. WHYTE, gave no1 ¡co (l'or tlio Gili proximo) of a volo of "Waul of Confidence ilk Hie Government. The nouso immediately afterwards rose. IM tho Assembly, Mr. MEBEniTit raised a question of privilege, as to tho presence in tho IIouso of Mr. CIIOOKES, whom ho inesmnoil, from an adver- tisement announcing that gentleman to preach on Sunday noxt, lo bo a Minister of Religion, Mid, as such, disqualified. After somo ¿libcu&amp;sioii, Mr. MILLEU gavo uotico of motion for this day, for tho appointment of a Select Committee to try tho xjuostion. Tho nouso thon \i cut into Comuiitteo on tlio Ecclesiastical Estimates. The item of ¿C200 for Perth gave rise to some debato, that Curo being at present vacant. Tt was ultimately ngieed to with- out division, as veía the wholo of Iho Clerical salaries, amounting to n, total of .£0,800. Mr. GBEOSOÍÍ moved au cllowauco or ¿£100...

CONSTABLE WALKER. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEE0UI1Y. SIR,-Is it true that Constable Walker, lately stationed at Sandy Bay, and of notoriety on the Cascade Road, and who was lately dismissed tho Police, for making a false charge against a man and his wife of this city, has again been appointed Constable at Campbell Town Y By answering this you will oblige. Yours, A SUBSCRIBER.

ASSOCIATE OF ARTS DEGREE. TO THE EDITOB, OP THE MERCDBY. SIR,-The Gazette announces that the examina- tion for tbisDegree is fixed for the 18th September; but it does not furnish the names of the Ex- aminers. They may not have been appointed as yet. Permit mo then to intimate, through your columns, that the task of appointing Examiners is one of considerable difficulty and delicacy, and that great core ought to be exercised in the selec- tion of gentlemen for so important a work. The Report on Education recently presented to His Excellency increases the diiliculty by allying, with the interests of three schoolB only, the names of several gentlemen who might have been usefully employed iu the coming Examination, but who will not, I fear, command, in present circumstances, the confidence of all the schools. To excite the confidence of these ought to be one of the first objects of the Council of Education in appointing Eiaminers. I would therefore humbly suggest, that no gentleman be a...

PARLIAMENT OF TASMANIA. -« LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WEDNESDAT, 22ND AUGUST, THE PRESIDENT look his seat at four minutes past 4 o'clock. NOTICE OP MOTION. Mr. WEDGE gave notice, in the absence of Mr. Whyto, of the following motion for Thursday, the Cth of Septeirbcr : 1. That the Bill to amend the Constitution of tho Legislative Council, passed last Session at a time when only eight members of this Council wero pre- sent, and six constituencies of this Council were wholly, and one in part, unrepresented in Parlia- ment, has effected fundamental changes in the Constitution with reference to the tenure of seats by members, and the exercise of the franchise by electors, of this Council, which are opposed to the spirit of the Constitution, the intention of ita framers, and the views and wishes of the constitu- encies, so far as Hie same can be gathered from the election of members returned to Parliament since the passing of the Act of lost Session. 2. That the Bill in question was introduced...

ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL. The preliminary works for the erection of the Hobart Town Catholic Cathedral are being rapidly proceeded with, the laying of the foundations being nearly completed. This portion of the works from the very superior manner in which it is being carried out deserves particular notice, as we are not aware that the foundations of any of our public &amp;nbsp; buildings have as yet been laid with such extreme regard to strength and indestructibility. The &amp;nbsp; foundations then consist of a lower course of stone, laid at a depth of from 3 to 8 feet, each of those massive pieces of stone being no loss than four foot ,''. _inches in width, by fourteen inches thick, and the walls, also of stone, being 3 feet 6 inches thick, altogether forming a most massive foundation for the superstructure to be erected upon it. The Cathedral itself, which will be of cruciform shape, will be 131 feet 6 inches in its extreme length, the breadth of the transept 82 ft ;...

THE THIRD AMATEUR PERFORMANCE. THE Third Amateur Performance in aid of a fund for the erection of an Odd Fellows Hall has been fixed to take place on next Monday week. The first piece chosen for the occasion is the brilliant comedy entitled " Used Up," after which the Artillery Band has volunteered to play several pieces on tho stage by way of interlude, to be followed by the screaming farce entitled " Your Life's in danger." The names of the gentlemen who arc to take part in this performance aro sufficient to guarantee the high character of the entertainment. Full particulars will, be published in a few days.

ABOLITION OF STATE AID. IT will be seen by our Parliamentary Report that Mr. CROOKES has given notice of his intention to ask leave to introduce into the Assembly this day a* Bill to abolish State Aid to Religion. We ore sorry Mr. CnooKr". has done this. The time chosen is so I'xidenllv inopportune that we nre surprise.', MI. !. .1 m.. 1 n should have been placed on the p.¡, 1 r. Most of the Ecclesiastical Estimates luve been already passed for 18G1, so that to al ¡Uh State Aid now would be to cancel these Estimates. If Mr. CUOOKES merely desires to induce the Assembly to abolish State Aid at some future time to be named in his Bill, upon what principle, we ask, does he seek to deny to the several constituencies the opportu- nity which will be afforded them next year of expressing an opinion upon this, important question? The Upper House has already refused on this plea to entertain any measure to disturb existing arrangements; so that Mr. CROOKES must be as well persuaded as we are...

THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS. (FROM OlHl CORhESPOXOENT.) SonEix -The monthly meeting of tho committee of management ol the "aoieil Public Libiaiy took place on thoGth.andby adjournment on thelOth mst The cucumstances íepoited by tho Sécrétai^ vvcie calculated to be most gi alifymg to the íeol vvcll wisheis of the Institution Hie inhabitants havo already evinced a degico of inteiest m tint, libiaiy and a desne to avail themselves of it tai exceeding tho most sanguino expectations eutei taun>d at its commencement, and all seem uuanunous in then satislaclion with the selection of books provided bv the committee 'lho funds of the Ubi u y amounted it was said in all (including tho Pailiauientaiy giant m aid) to ¿E17U Is Gd, of which the «um ot JË139 has been expended, leaving £40 Is Od m band for the pinchase of books us soon as the io quiBito ones eau bo piocuied 'lheiooio 115 mem bers and tho nuniboi 13 constantly íuciea^iug rheio aio at piesont in the libiaiy 540 volumes The average numbe...

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. -* WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND, 1860. THE SPEAKER took the chair at 4 p.m. NOTICE DF MOTION. Mr. CROOKES to move for leave to bring in a Bill for the gradual abolition of StatoiAid to Reli- gion, (to-morrow). PErVILEGE. Mr. MEREDITH said ho observed in the news- papers that the member for Launceston (Mr. Crookes) was to preach next Sunday in a Wesloyau Chapel. As he was informed it was impossible for Mr. Crookes to do so unless ho woro a minister of religion, his sitting iu that House became, under tho 15th .clause ot the Constitutional Act, a breach of Privilege. Ho wished it to bo understood that his sole object was to preserve the Constitution in- tact. Mr, Crookes bael boen taxed more than once with being a minister of religion sitting in tho House, aud ho hat! never denied it. If he would not deny it now ho (Mr. Meredith) should movo that ho was a minister of religion withiu the mean- ing of the Constitutional Act and ineligible lora scat in that House. Mr. CROOKE...

ADDBE S 8 «o WILLIAM EACE ALLISON, Es«., M.H.A. tus. &amp;c. &amp;e. DEAS S1B,-Now that the Colonial Chap- lains have received authentic information «f tiwDisallowance by the Crown of the Bill to Abolish State A«d to Beligion, on the ex- press ground of its failing to protect the vested atermts of the Clergy, we think it an ap- propriate moment for offering to you our thanks mr tíie straightforward and impartial manner in Which, in your place in -Parliament, you protected (upon sevoral occasions) the interests «fué Colonial Chaplains in the Session of 1859. If the Bill to Abolish State Aid to Beligion wat carried through tho House of Assembly, notwithstanding the opposition of yourself and that 'of other gentlemen, Members of that House, who were unwilling to see the temporal welfare of the Clergy sacrificed; you, and those who thought with you, have had tho satis faction of knowing that you adopted the course of justice, and of Tvirnpssing^ the confirmation of your sentimen...

POLICE OFFICE. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22. BEFORE W. Tarleton Esq., P.M., and J. M. L. Tabart, Esq. Henrietta Paling was sent to the House of Cor- rection for one month for drunkenness, and four other drunkards were each fined 10s. Martha Green was bound in ber good behaviour for three months, as a common peace disturber, and Eliza Pearce was sentenced to three months imprison- ment for indecent conduct in the streets. Two brawlers were each fined 5s. FELONY. -John Smith and Michael Linton, charged with felony, were remanded till the 28th instant. &amp;nbsp; STEALING PIGEONS. -Thomas Stewart, a boy 13 years of age, was brought up on remand charged with stealing 4 pigeons, the property of G. W. Beaumont, Old Wharf, and John Carrier was charged with feloniously receiving the same. The boy pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four hours imprisonment, and to bo whipped. Carrier was discharged, as there was no evidence to show a guilty knowledge of the theft. FURIOUS DRIVING. -Hadley v. Sto...

PORT ARTHUR. WE give a short report of the trip of the " Cul- loden" to Port Arthur in another column. There aro reasons why no public comments should be made on the probable recommenda- tions of the Joint Committee so far as the re- tention of the men at the Settlement is con- cerned. We may however state in connexion with that subject that there are at present five hundred and sixty-four prisoners at Port Arthur-threo hundred and one being charge- able on Colonial, and two hundred and sixty three on Imperial funds. The salaries of offi- cers, constables, and warders, amount to about .£7,600 per annum. The conditions on which men are now released, are, that they serve throe-fourths of their term of sentence, except in extreme cases. There are about eight or nine men released from Port Arthur overy fort- night ; and this applies to ALL prisoners-in- cluding those trebly-convicted and those sen- tenced for unnatural crimes. The cost of each prisoner is about thirty-five pounds per an...

STATE AID FOR OATLANDS. TO THE EDITOB OP THE MERCURY. Sin,-Aiiti-Stnto Aid presents (through you) his compliments to Anti-Humbug, and would Uko to know why, if tho motives " of our respected member" are so pure ho did not go the "wholo hog" and try to got ¿¡200 from tho State voted to every minister in Oatlands. Surely Anti-Humbug " is not prepared to say publicly in Oatlands" that every minister has not as just a claim to it, as the ono for whom "our member" has so lately becomo the champion. Your obedient servant, ANTI-STATE-AID.